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This week I worked in an amazing training room up in Scotland.

The beautiful and comfortable meeting space was on the Mezzanine and considerately designed by an architect. It had beautiful view of the sea.

The materials used for building the structure and decorating were also fascinating. 

Some of the walls were made of painted straw board and massive bricks of pink salt, which gave off a beautiful light, and it felt good for my well-being, too.

I loved that the room had an eco-friendly vibe, which you could see when looking at the painted stringboard. The stringboard walls also gave it an industrial edge, and the painting of the stringboard made it feel a bit more glamorous than if it was left bare.

I loved the pink blocks of salt used in the wall construction. Apparently, there are many benefits to using pink Himalayan salt as a construction material, including its being inflammable, great for acoustics, creating healthier indoor environments, and reducing pollution.

The design and materials are fascinating because salt bricks are used a lot in spa salt rooms (spaces I used to know well).

From this, I began to understand why the space was good for my well-being. https://pin.it/69njtGSGy. I felt nostalgic and joyful when I realised a designer had considerably considered inner wall construction for building, aesthetic, eco, and well-being reasons.

Salt rooms have a range of untested physiological benefits, such as fighting infection, clearing coughs, and reducing stress.

I also liked how they used giant pink Himalayan salt discs to make the table’s legs.

Another innovative feature of the décor and design was the wall of pots that adorned the main wall. This cute crockery collection offered subtle branding for the business but, most importantly, emitted creativity, camaraderie, and cosiness.

The wall of themed crockery, I imagine, acts as a fantastic backdrop for when they are doing virtual meetings.

Overall, because of the many innovative features I found in this training room, it is one of the more remarkable spaces I visited to facilitate learning workshops this year.

Visiting this space, this week helps to justify integrating more natural elements in decor items in the future. Potentially looking at new ways to integrate pink salt into my making and shelf decor items. I shall also look at collections of items with small words that buyers can use on their walls for more meaningful virtual meeting backdrops.

Here is a link to a product in my shop that gives off cosy office vibes https://homeofficecharm.etsy.com/listing/215250388

This week I was delivering professional development training and facilitated workshops in Manchester in the north of the UK and back down in London.

On the way back home I noticed how all the HQ buildings in the area had beautiful Xmas trees. Next year I will do a post on the line up of Xmas trees at corporate HQ buildings.

It told me something about how just putting up a Christmas tree in the spacious reception areas of these building is important for converting a sense of arrival and welcoming.

Seeing how the facilities teams of these massive organisation seriously consider the decorations made me realise that when we work from home we must also create our version of the well dressed welcoming Christmas tree for people that join our meetings online in virtual meetings.

1. Print off a printable Jolly leadership quiz to have some festive fun amongst other managers to bring some cheer to the workplace and available in my Etsy shop this holiday season.
2. Hang a stocking on your book shelf to signify and mark the festive season has begun and start conversations about being ready for Christmas and build rapport conversations about Xmas gift giving habits
3. Arrange some baubles on your shelf to give your audience something to break the ice about when joining your online meetings

What will you do decor wise this season to bring cheer to the office and team?

I stayed in two very different hotel rooms this week. Monday and Tuesday I was in the beautiful Angus wing of in Ashridge House which was wonderful and very cosy with their natural decor and big spacious rooms.

I also stayed in Motel One in Manchester. I found it good for one or two nights but the room I stayed in was the smallest room I’ve ever been given. It was tiny but beautiful it was sized just enough to get the furniture and one person in. I think if there were two of us it might be a squeeze.

The featured image is created by the AI which made a composite of the words in this blog and the images. I asked it to do a mock up of a cosy home office inspired by the visits to two hotels this week. What it created looks nice after its 3rd attempt because it has the colours of the cushions as well as the natural elements and industrial elements from both hotels i stayed at. The nod to home office comes especially from the clever wall art over the bed at Motel One. The AI image used books too which seems to be one of the cultural devices to signify serious office and home working vibes.

Five tips for incorporating boutique hotel decor into your home office designs.

1. Sort your favourite pictures of hotel rooms you have stayed at. Filter down to 10.
2. Use your summary of those images to decide on what your ideal design style is (whether industrial, beach auntie, cottage core, classical etc).
3. Do a search on Pinterest using that design style name and then add home offices and create a board to curate inspiration for your shopping list.
4. Share a picture with AI and command it to create a home office image inspired by the photos that are your favourite.
5. When you do your home office revamp show your contractor the images you and AI have created

How have your travels influenced your office decor?

Please let me know in the comments.

Since it’s the end of the month. This also is emailed to my email subscribers. If you would like to read previous weeks posts, they are here.